1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a machine for styling hair in the form of long locks of hair entwined in, which, by lexicological extension, are known in the language of the street by the name “dreadlocks”. This hair style is also termed “rasta” due to being the form of styling typical of the followers of the “Rastafari” religion, who are people who style their hair in this way.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
A dreadlock is a type of tube of hair in which the hairs are entwined, being woven together, so that there are no loose hairs, and its structure is kept stable over time. Originally, this hairstyle was peculiar to African ethnic groups which naturally have hair in small curls, in which entangling of the hairs occurs very easily. These days, for fashion reasons, this hair style is requested by people with hair of all kinds, including straight hair, in which it is much more difficult to obtain dreadlocks.
There are various different techniques for making a dreadlock.
The technique advised most is the natural one, in which no chemical product whatsoever is used. A variant of the natural technique is that of teaselling, in which teaselling is carried out lock by lock and the locks are then rounded with the hands. With this technique, the dreadlock does not turn out tight and can be undone. In fact, several months are needed for the dreadlocks to be well compacted and formed, months during which they must be well cared for. This technique is not suitable for being applied to straight hair.
Although coarse and rudimentary, another way of obtaining dreadlocks is stopping combing one's hair, which proves to take an excessive amount of time (it may take years, depending on each person's hair type) and, with this technique, it is not possible to control the diameter of the dreadlocks, each of which will turn out to be of a different size. Another variant, the one preferred, is called the crochet type and consists of the interweaving being carried out in a totally manual way, with the aid of an interchangeable harpoon needle of the type for crocheting, with which the lock of hair is penetrated and, with a to and fro movement, hair is introduced towards the center of the lock. In this way, a type of sewing is carried out between the hairs and compact, well defined dreadlocks are obtained from the start. Although, it is very laborious, takes a long time, is very expensive and proves to be very arduous for the person subjected to it, as it also is for the hairdresser, who ends up suffering from occupational exhaustion and is exposed to postural health problems. Once hair has been done like this, it does not cake. It is left with natural movement and does not require as much care as is given with other techniques which are referred to above. Other known techniques are based on the use of chemical products intended for simplifying and speeding up the making of dreadlocks. These techniques are contra-indicated for healthy hair, as chemical products seriously damage the internal and external capillary structure, possibly producing diseases of the dermis in the scalp (allergies, alopecia and seborrhoeic dermatitis, among others). Apart from the negative repercussions on the customer's health, which is the most important thing, it also affects the image and professional standing of the hairdressers and, for this reason, many of these professionals refuse to apply these techniques.
Patent US 2004/0028632 is known, being based on the use of a chemical product intended to cause hair to thicken, for the purpose of helping the subsequent entwining thereof. With this technique, no sewing between hairs is achieved, and the dreadlock comes undone when it is washed. The use of chemical products usually takes place at specialized hairdressers' salons for reducing the time of the process. On the other hand, bearing in mind the variety of hair types, arranging for them to be well formed and defined, they resort to giving permanent waves (sometimes two or three perms in succession), whereupon the hair suffers considerable detriment for the hair and dries out appreciably. This way of making dreadlocks is very expensive for the customer and, when he wishes to change hair styles, there is no alternative but to have his hair cut and let it grow again, as it has become damaged so much that the situation is unrecoverable for undoing the dreadlocks and producing another type of hair style.
It is understood from that which is set out above that the ideal would be to have some machine, capable of mechanizing the to and fro movement characteristic of the technique referred to above as the crochet technique but no such thing exists.
Micro-pigmentation machines for tattooing skin, such as the one in U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,952, are known. However, this type of machine is of no use for the aims sought as, for one thing, the travel necessary for pigmenting skin is much shorter (of the order of 3 mm) than the travel which is needed for interweaving dreadlocks (between 8 and 11 mm). For another thing, the force needed for tattooing skin is very low, whereas a considerable force of traction is needed for forming dreadlocks.